The present invention concerns a twine arm arrangement used in the binding of a cylindrical bale made in the baling chamber of a round baler and more particularly relates to such an arrangement including two twine arms for the guidance of the binding material to a start position in engagement with the bale, the arms being movable relative to each other along the longitudinal axis of the bale by an actuating arrangement and being together when occupying a rest position at or near an end face of the bale. Furthermore, the invention concerns a method or process for binding a bale.
Twine arm arrangements are used in wrapping a cylindrical bale formed by an agricultural round baler with twine after it has been formed in the baling chamber of the baler in order to prevent it from falling apart. In such wrapping, the twine is initially wrapped with the crop and subsequently wound around the circumference of the bale in a multiplicity of turns. The windings are woven over the entire width of the bale by means of movable arms, of the arm arrangements, that guide the twine along the longitudinal axis of the bale, while the bale continues to be rotated in the baling chamber. After a sufficient number of turns, the twine is cut from the supply roll and the bale released. The end or ends of the wrapped twine hang down from the bale to a greater or lesser length, while the remainder of the wrapped twine remains on the surface of the bale due to its friction.
In conventional balers a problem has been shown to exist in that the baling process cannot be continued during the binding process and that a large quantity of twine, 50 to 80 meters for example, is required for binding each bale.
To relieve these problems it has been proposed (see Russian Patent No. SU-A1-1261-581, dated Oct. 7, 1986 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,249 granted Dec. 27, 1988) to supply the twine through two arms in order to reduce the binding time by one-half. Since both arms are guided over the entire width of the bale twice, the twine requirement is nevertheless still very high.